Commercial Analytical Research Organisations Transnational Strategy

January 2019 -
June 2021

EUSBSR flagship

Priority area:
Innovation

1. Innovation 1.1 R&I infrastructures

CAROTS

CAROTS aims to establish a new type of private or public-private company in the Baltic Sea region: Commercial Analytical Research Organisations (CARO). CAROs, as intermediary bodies between industry and academia, provide enterprises with much quicker yet complete assistance in analytical research in the fields of e.g. new materials, nanotech and life sciences.

Summary

Helping companies thrive: Industrial research start-ups

In the recent past public projects and initiatives tried to bridge the gap between basic scientific research and industrial application of research results in new products and technologies. Besides these public initiatives a small number of private enterprises have developed measurement services for industrial clients. This type of enterprises uses analytical instruments at universities and large-scale Research Infrastructures. Especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) need a comprehensive package solution: Starting with consultation in order to define the required research goals and methods, followed by developing concepts for experiments, the actual measurement and concluding with an interpretation of the results. Thus intermediaries, acting as "translators" between industry and academia, are needed. This role will be assumed by Commercial Analytical Research Organisations (CAROs): commercial or for-profit companies, offering a complete suite of assistance for analytical research needs (e.g. measurements, consultation, sample preparation) to industry. CAROs have access or the potential to use Large Scale Research Infrastructures and/or offer lab technologies. CAROs will help companies to benefit from knowledge and potential of scientists and research facilities and provide companies with much quicker yet complete assistance to solve analytical tasks in areas like e.g. New Materials, NanoTech or Life Sciences and thus significantly expedite innovation.

Initiating a new market

Although a few CAROs already exist in Europe, there is a high potential for additional enterprises of this type. Therefore CAROTS aims to establish this new type of company in the Baltic Sea region. The goal is to initiate a test bed for this new type of intermediaries between industry and Analytical Research Organisations. CAROTS aims at involving private capital – by investing in CAROs – in the collaboration between industries and publicly owned analytical facilities. CAROTS wants to improve conditions for this type of industrial research start-ups along with greater visibility, better knowledge transfer and by attracting entrepreneurs and venture capitalists for support.